The Los Cerritos Wetlands has had its fair share of volunteers, but on April 26th a new record was set.  Old and young, 163 volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spent four hours removing debris and brush.  This group removed approximately 100 cubic yards of debris and filled up two large dumpster containers! The before and after photos really show the significance of removing that much!

Each volunteer came with smiling faces and an amazing attitude to get some work done! Everyone was very curious to understand the importance of pulling up weeds and removing palm fronds.  The truth is that these tasks truly are helping the wetlands, by removing invasive species such as ice plant or mustard, we not only give space for native plant species but give the opportunity for native fauna to arrive as well.

This was a very large event to set up for and took a team of awesome individuals to prepare the site.  Typical events run from a couple of volunteers to up to 50, and usually get a significant task completed. This event blew typical events out of the water! Having that many individuals out helping made the work easier and they completed SOOO much more!

A big thank you goes out to all of the volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority.

Please Check out more photos from this event on our flickr site! 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tidalinfluence/sets/72157644282147416/

By Jade Dean

If you've had the chance to look at the event calendar for Friends of Colorado Lagoon, you've seen an event called Lagoon Afternoons that has an assortment of dates from October to December. Today, coincidentally, was the first one of the year! Lagoon Afternoons started in 2012 to provide an additional weekday opportunity for members of the community to assist our staff. Volunteers engage in a diverse amount of tasks that include: seed collection, watering, weeding, planting, and so much more.


Our event today was a huge success! We had 35 students from Wilson High School join us to water plants and collect seeds from Giant Wild Rye (Eleymus condensatus), Bladder Pod (Isomeris arborea), Purple Sage (Salvia luecophylla), White Sage (Salvia apiana), Mock Heather (Ericameria ericoides), and California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum). In exchange for their service, their teacher, Mr. Wille, awarded them extra credit. Don't worry, this event is not solely for students! We've also hosted businesses, like Wells Fargo, and had general members of the community join us for the afternoon.


Here are the remaining events for 2013: Thursdays from 3-5pm on 10/24, 11/7, 11/21, 12/5, 12/12. If you would like more details, click on the event calendar above, leave us a comment, or email education@coloradolagoon.org.

By Jade Dean

For California Coastal Cleanup Day, we had 45 volunteers at the Colorado Lagoon participate in several activities ranging from propagating salt marsh species to picking up trash along with removing non-native species from the median and participating in a beach seine.

Since Coastal Cleanup Day started in 1985, it has been reported that almost 15 million pieces of trash have been removed from the coastline and is considered the world's largest organized cleanup. Thanks to the ongoing restoration of the Colorado Lagoon, we did not have a lot of trash to pick up! The event was also attended by several community groups, such as the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, the CSULB Surfrider Chapter, the Long Beach Democrats, and several Long Beach Mayoral Candidates. We were also joined by a photographer from Long Beach's newest newspaper, the Long Beach Register. Check out our slideshow below to see the Register's photos of the event!

By Jade Dean

This past Saturday, we hosted a group of 15 students and teachers from the Phoenix Country Day School in Phoenix, Arizona at Los Cerritos Wetlands. Yes, you read that right! They drove out from Arizona to learn about wetland conservation and land use in California. We were one of their stops during their three day excursion and they did a fantastic job propagating 250 Shore Grass (Distichilis littoralis) plants, removing invasive plants from a previously planted area, and spotting Pacific Green Sea Turtles in the San Gabriel River. Check out more photos on our Facebook page!

Would you like us to host your class/club/business/community group at the wetlands? Email us at iwanttohelp@tidalinfluence.com for more details.

By Megan Roy
These pictures show the transformation of the East Bank of the lagoon form invasive iceplant (Carpobrotus edulis) to native wetland and coastal sage scrub species. The conversion is remarkable!

By Megan Roy
It is incredible the change the marsh has undergone in just one year thanks to the restoration effort. Note: Don't see a notable difference? In fact, the observed area is a success considering the salty and silty conditions this site bared -the growth is tremendous. The pictures did not capture all transformations. In these pictures we can observe natural change as the native coastal sage scrub plants mature and become a more suitable habitat for endangered birds and other creatures, 

By Megan Roy
In the past two weeks, we have had the great pleasure of leading several tours both at Los Cerritos and at Colorado Lagoon.. Click "Read More" To see all of the tour descriptions.

By Jade Dean
In case you have not noticed, the public events we co-host with our non-profit partners only last two hours. Why is that? Simply put, it is because we can get an astonishing amount of work done with a group of volunteers during that time. Don't believe us? Click "Read More" to see how much we can accomplish with some sweat, determination, and members of the community!

By Megan Roy
Los Cerritos Wetlands was historically 2,400 acres; today approximately 500 fragmented acres remain. At least 80% of wetlands in California have been degraded or developed on. The work we do to restore this precious ecosystem sets a precedent for other degraded and urbanized wetlands. Community involvement is vital to the success of the restoration effort. Join us this Saturday, August 3rd to help make a difference in your community. Click for more details.

By Jade Dean
During the summer, we find ourselves weeding our restoration sites more times than we can count! Here is a small collection of Before and After images of how our hard work has dramatically changed the landscape of Phase III at the Colorado Lagoon.

Click "Read More" to see more Before and After shots of our work!